Amateretsu
Amateretsu (real name: Saichio Tanaka) is a Japanese-American(UCAS) human physical adept that specializes in martial combat with various blades and throwing stars. Considered highly disciplined and talented in her field, she is a grand-master of ninjitsu, akido, and various forms of Japanese swordfighting. An imposing woman, Amateretsu almost begs to be taken issue with just so she can display her skill. Amateretsu currently lives with Venus in an older Renton neighborhood, in a hundred year old townhouse the two have invested a considerable amount of time, effort, and nuyen into renovating. Mother of Chavez, niece of Akuna, married to Venus. Early life Little is actually known of Amateretsu's life, and she shows little desire to change this. She makes no secret of the fact she is originally from Seattle, the eighth child of ten born to a long dead Puyallup oyabun. She was trained as a servant and retainer for the clan, but at some point in her teens moved to Okinawa to live with her uncle. It is known that her father and the uncle did not have a good relationship, and she was first called Amaterestu by the latter as a slight against the former. Why saddling a forgotten daughter with the same name as the Japanese goddess of the sun would be an insult has yet to be explained. Also during this period Amaterasu competed on (And won) Japan's long running game show/athletic showcase Sasuke. She has described this as the happiest moment of her young life. Recent Life Amateretsu was discovered in the Yucatan as, Lobos. She stood guardat a door to an establishment known as “The Olive Branch,” which was a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, and meeting place. She worked for a mysteriously keen woman known as Matrona.As Lobos, Amateretsu kept her physical features hidden behind strips of leather which covered her entire body, giving the illusion of a sexless metahuman. Many took her for a man. She later told Venus that she became this way through the possibly unintended powers of Matrona, who needed Amateretsu to guard the place, but to become as unassuming as possible. In doing do Amateretsu lost sense of herself and became the will of the being, Matrona. It remains unclear what Matrona actually is, but it is certain that the being or person contains potent powers that influence all that are around her for better or for worse. Yucatan Experience Lobos joined Venus, Chavez, and Tia at the request of Matrona to help them in their ordeal in the Yucatan. Venus sought some one who had access to the astral plain, as the trio had already run afoul of several spirits and magicians. Lobos proved to be invaluable to the team as she gave Venus elbow space in her job of protecting Tia and Chavez and a very able sword hand in situations that erupted into violence, many times against Eric King's thugs. Lobos proved a savior in helping Venus escape possible torture and execution, a debt Venus still holds dear. When Venus, Chavez, and Tia had to leave the Yucatan, Venus pleaded with Lobos to accompany them; after getting Matrona's permission, she agreed. Seattle Experience Now known as Amateretsu, she has begun to have a clearer sense of herself as a being seperate from Matrona. She left the leather costume behind and accepted a more feminine existence at Venus' urging, rather than the spartan, even androdgynous style she favored upon their initial meeting. With some misgivings she accepted a job as a bouncer at the strip club Luscious, working along with Venus to make ends meet for the several months the four lived in Puyallup. Though she was very happy to quit the job after T-Rex recruited the four of them to the group, she has maintained contact with Petey and the rest of the employees there. This contact even led to her tangential involvment with the investigation of The Courthouse Massacre, providing Haifa and Ethan with important information regarding the Yakuza after they tracked her to Luscious. Amateretsu is also an accomplished cook, with an expertise in baking, which has led to some of the best deserts the group has ever eaten. She has made a great deal of effort to keep those around her well fed, refusing to use anything but top-quality, natural ingredients in her cooking. Amateretsu takes her culinary prowess no less seriously than she does martial capabilities, and spends huge amounts of nuyen keeping her kitchen stocked with the best ingredients and cooking equipment. She also eats like a horse herself, with absolutely no noticable ill-effects, an observation that makes Venus a little envious. Motherhood After the events of The Storm, Amateretsu revealed to Chavez that she is his mother and offered Chavez a means to leave Seattle to meet and live with his cousins in Japan for a time (until/if he felt like returning). Chavez agreed to this. Amateretsu birthed Chavez when she was fourteen while living in Japan. It was difficult pregnancy, physically and emotionally, as she was negelected by most of her family (but not all). Chavez’s father, Dominico Caldera, worked for Shiawase in Japan at the time and took Chavez to raise him, hiding his true mother’s identity. Eventually Caldera moved to the Yucatan. Amateretsu eventually followed when she grew much older in order to find Chavez. She met Venus and Tia while she worked security for a bar run by the free spirit Matrona. Events in the Yucatan would send all four to live together in Seattle. Akuna offered to take Chavez from Amateretsu and hide him in Japan since Aztechnology was looking for all of them. Amateretsu took this idea to heart, but after the events of the Storm subsided, she told Chavez and allowed him to make his own decision whether he wanted to leave or not and meet other members of his family. Chavez chose to leave. Second Child Amateretsu is expecting another child to be born around January of '72. The baby has been identified as a female elf. The father is believed to be Tall Thunder. Venus [[Venus and Amateretsu have become considerably close in the months/years they have lived together. Not only do they share the capabilities of physical adepts, they also share the same bedroom. The two have become close confidants and are considered in the family (includes Tia, and Chavez) as the matriarchal big sisters. When Amateretsu and Venus joined Stam , their relationship grew more complicated. Venus tricked Amateretsu into a dare to kiss Zan, which later developed a romantic relationship between Amateretsu and Zan. The trick sort of backfired on Venus and Venus sought Amateretsu's affections now that Amateretsu had divided her attention between the two. Amateretsu also had romantic feelings for her, but her lack of experience in exploring her possible bisexuality (though Amateretsu admits to finding Venus the only woman she is interested in romanticly so far) made her resist Venus' advances. This resulted into tears and shouting matches, which tested the durability of their relationship. Eventually Amateretsu's resistence broke down due to Venus' persistence and the two share a healthy sexual life. The two eventually made their romantic relationship official, even with Amateretsu still dating Zan. Regardless of her continued relationship with Zan, Amateretsu spends most of her time with Venus. Venus came close to death after being stabbed through the chest by Grapes during the Storm. Amateretsu rarely left Venus' side during her recovery. When Venus woke after days in a coma, she purposed marriage to Amateretsu. The two plan on marrying soon on top of Mount Olympus in Salish. With the marriage approaching, Amateretsu has yet to decide how exactly to handle her feelings she still has for Zan. Venus proposed inviting Zan into their more intimate moments, claiming that during Venus' time in the Arcology meta-plane with Zan, that the event helped her to understand and trust Zan and developed feelings of her own. Zan offered no resistence to the idea, but was only willing to do so if Amateretsu felt comfortable with it. The final decision was left to Amateretsu. Shared Tattoos and Themes Venus and Amateretsu were both heavily tattooed when they first met and since then have decorated their bodies with even more ink to signify their relationship. Currently the two have vines and flowers on opposing legs, which grow and bloom whenever the two are close to one another. The fact that both of their street names are those of goddesses are not lost on them. Their totems of Firebird and Thunderbird are constant in theme inked across each of their bodies. Relation to Knight Errant During the investigation of the Courthouse Massacre, then Knight Inspector Haifa Ferzend, approached Luscious to follow up on leads that involved Venus and Amateretsu at the crime scene. Amateretsu convinced Haifa that her and Venus were in the wrong place at the wrong time persuing another criminal that inovlved themself with the massacre. Haifa believed this as long as Amateretsu could be used for potential leads for street information and a possible avenue for Shadowrunner hire for personal needs and in exhange Haifa did not further investigate Venus or Amateretsu. Since then Amateretsu has provided intel to Haifa about Councilman Jim True-Frost business dealings in the cauldron. Amateretsu later contacted Haifa to help Stam help prisoners they rescued from Grapes during the Storm. Beliefs Other than her striking physical appearance, Amateretsu lives a very low key existence. Her beliefs seem to center around naturalist Shinto ancestor worship, mixed with Zen Buddhism and various other eastern philosophical beliefs. Her world view is relaxed, but is very critical of others who she perceives as wasting their true potential. She also found relaxation and catharsis in fighting and has on numerous occasions gone out into the streets of Puyallup just to pick fights. Category:Characters Category:Yucatan Campaign Category:Cops and Knights Campaign